Scenes from the Mall
by pinktink008
Summary: Chapter one: Dean, my OFC Emerson Weir and the mall. Chapter two: Sam, Emerson and the mall. What else is there to say? It's a stand alone piece that also fits into my larger 'universe'. COMPLETE and INCOMPLETE all at once. *L*
1. Chapter 1

**Scenes from the Mall**

**A/N:** This is mostly an exercise in me putting the characters in little situations like this but I thought it would be fun to post. It might only be one scene but the thought has crossed my mind to write other little 'mall moments' so we'll see. First I have to see if this one is good. So on to the other stuff. I don't own _Supernatural_ or its characters. I wish I did because then I'd have Sam and Dean run around shirtless often. I do own Emerson and if you'd like to learn more about her, check out my author page. There isn't much but I might actually put up a bio on her one of these days. Plus it might be good to read some of my other stories featuring Emerson. I know OFCs don't always go over well with fans but I like to think that mine isn't a Mary Sue and that the stories are well written. A little feedback will help me in making sure that happens though because if I start to veer too much into Mary Sue-verse, I'd like to know. Plus my muse likes being fed and reviews always help with that. Thanks!

* * *

Dean made a sour face as Emerson held up a striped button down shirt to get a better look at it. He really didn't understand why they had to be at the mall right now. It was the middle of November and the place was packed. He'd had to drive around the mall parking lot at least three times before he found a parking spot and then they'd had to walk for what felt like forever until they reached a mall entrance. And now Dean felt like he was trapped in mall hell.

"Would you look around, grumpy?" Emerson said, giving Dean a playful pout. "It's really not that bad."

"We could've just grabbed something at the Quickie Mart," Dean grumbled, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his leather jacket.

Emerson stuck her tongue out at him and unfolded a t-shirt to take a closer look at it. She tossed a dark gray t-shirt and a light gray t-shirt over her shoulder, deciding they would do. "I am **not** buying Sam a Christmas present from some convenience store, Dean," she said, shaking her head. "I'm not getting yours from a convenience store either if that helps any."

Dean immediately perked up, shifting so he could look Emerson in the eye now. "Yeah? So what am I getting?" he asked, looking a bit like an eager puppy.

Emerson softly laughed, shaking her head with an amused look on her face. She couldn't help it. There was something endearing about Dean at moments like this. "Oh no you don't, Dean," she said, smiling brightly. "When Sam and I go to the mall tomorrow, I'll pick up your present. So I don't even know what it is yet, tiger. That's why you're here and Sam isn't. This way you won't know what you're getting and Sam won't know what he's getting."

Dean chuckled a bit, shaking his head now in that amused way. He was looking around again, planning a quick exit. He wasn't interested in buying anything for Sam in some department store. Dean was more of a last minute shopper anyway. He figured that he could grab something from a gas station or something. It wasn't like a typical Winchester Christmas included awesome gifts in the first place.

"So what are you getting Sammy?" Dean asked, only now noticing the shirts that Emerson had tossed over her shoulder.

"Probably a couple of shirts and maybe a watch or something," Emerson said with a noncommittal shrug. She wasn't totally sure on what she'd be getting but she had a general idea on it anyway. She was holding up a sweater as she spoke and then tossed it back on the table, deciding that it wasn't something Sam would wear anyway. "I'm going for practical gifts."

Dean shrugged. He hated the fact that right now Sam was getting to relax in the motel room while he was stuck at the mall. Dean didn't see how that was fair. Especially since he wasn't even getting anything out of this. Emerson was shopping for Sam and Dean was stuck hanging around. "Remind me again why I promised to do this?" he asked, mostly thinking out loud.

Emerson had the t-shirts draped over her arm now and had added a nice zippered hooded sweatshirt that she'd found as well. She looked at Dean and smiled brightly. "Because you're an awesome big brother and you knew I'd be shopping for Sam so you offered to take me to the mall," she said, lightly laughing. "Go wander and I'll find you when I'm done shopping. You look like you're going a little stir crazy, Dean."

Dean made another sour face, almost sticking his tongue out at Emerson. He glanced around again and headed towards the department store's fragrance counter. He wondered if maybe there was someone working today that he could flirt with. A lot of the time there were hot girls that worked in the makeup and fragrance departments of stores like this. And since Emerson was giving him the chance to walk away, Dean figured he'd take advantage of it. Since there wasn't a job in the area right now, he figured a little fun couldn't hurt after all.

* * *

Dean was leaning against one of the glass display cases, flirting with a pretty brunette salesperson behind the counter when Emerson wandered over. She had figured that Dean was going to be there. Flirting with some young salesperson was probably the only fun that Dean was having at the mall at this point. Emerson rolled her eyes a bit when she saw that he had a small shopping bag in his one hand. She wondered if Dean actually bought something because some pretty young salesperson batted her eyelashes and talked him into buying something that he didn't really need. Of course Dean could have bought something for Sam too. She wouldn't be sure until she talked to him.

Emerson started to head over when she caught a bit of the conversation Dean was having with the brunette. She smiled and shook her head, figuring on giving him only long enough to get the girl's phone number before heading over. It was the least that Emerson could do after dragging Dean to the mall like this. While she had the time, Emerson wandered over to the makeup, glancing at some of the lipglosses they had for sale.

After picking out a couple of things for herself, a couple of lipglosses and some other makeup, she headed to the makeup counter to pay before Dean saw her. Emerson was just handing over the cash to pay for her things when Dean spotted her.

"Ready to go?"

Emerson smiled, nodding, taking her change and the bag before turning to face Dean. "Yeah, I'm done shopping so if you're ready, we can go," she said with a shrug.

"You know you owe me," Dean said, looking around a bit to see if eh could find the exit.

"I left you alone to get that girl's number. I think we're even, Dean."

"You owe me more than that."

"All right, so I'll get us all dinner too and beers are on me when we go to the bar."

Dean seemed to consider it for a moment. Finally he shrugged. "Let's start with lunch and we'll discus the rest of the terms then," he said, getting ready to leave the store.

"You can try negotiating, Dean, but I think that my offer is fair," Emerson said with a shrug. She started to lead them towards the exit, figuring that Dean would want to hit the nearest fast food place instead of sticking around in the mall to go to the food court. "So what's in the bag?"

Dean glanced at the bag in his hand and then shrugged. He was trying to make sure that it didn't look like he was following Emerson. He wasn't totally sure how to get out of the store at all but he was playing it off nicely. "A gift for Sam," Dean said as they walked.

Emerson perked up when she heard that, grinning. "What did you get him?"

"You first."

Emerson laughed and shrugged. He'd seen most of what she'd picked out and since she didn't think Dean was going to go gabbing to Sam about what she bought, Emerson felt it was safe to share that information with Dean. "A zipper-up sweatshirt, a couple of t-shirts and a nice, durable watch. You?"

"A new money clip."

Emerson looked a bit impressed, nodding. "I wonder what Sam will get you."

Dean furrowed his brow as he thought about it. He wasn't sure that he trusted Sam to pick out something that he'd actually like. "Hey, maybe you can help him pick out something cool," he said, a hopeful look on his face.

Emerson shrugged, not sure she wanted to have that much input on what Sam bought Dean. She, after all, hadn't had any input on what Dean bought Sam. "I don't know, Dean. We'll see. But Dean?"

Dean looked at Emerson now, almost stopping in his tracks at that tone in her voice. It wasn't sarcastic. In fact he thought it was maybe soft and sweet. "Yeah? What?"

Emerson slipped her arm in his and rested her head on Dean's arm for a moment. "Thanks," she said with a softer smile. "Thanks for bringing me here and thanks for helping me."

Dean looked confused now. "Helping you? With what?"

"For doing all of this. For helping me get Sam to do Christmas this year."

Dean smiled and shrugged it off. He was looking forward to it himself and if it made Sam happy, then Dean would do it. And it seemed that Sam liked seeing Emerson happy so if she was happy, Sam was happy. "Yeah, well, whatever."

Emerson softly laughed. "I'll make sure you like your gifts, Dean," she said as they headed out the door and into the parking lot so they could find the Impala. "After all, I owe you, right?"


	2. Chapter 2

Sam had initially been surprised when Dean offered to let him use the Impala to take Emerson to the mall. After thinking about it for a bit however, he realized that it was because Dean knew Emerson would be Christmas shopping for Dean this time around and if it meant he had to let Sam drive the car so he could get a present at Christmas, it seemed that he was all for it. Plus it would mean that Sam would have to fight to find a parking spot and that Sam would have to deal with the crowd at the mall. Meanwhile, Dean could relax at the motel or walk down the street to the nearest bar. All in all, Dean saw it as a 'win' for himself anyway.

Dean wouldn't have been pleased to hear it but Sam had actually gotten lucky and found a parking spot near the food court that wasn't too far back. The walk to the mall entrance wasn't nearly as long of a trek as he'd expected it to be. That was the only 'good thing' though because once he and Emerson walked inside, he saw it was wall-to-wall people. The closer it got to Christmas, the more last minute shoppers that were out there but Sam figured that he and Emerson could manage.

He glanced over at her, mostly to make sure that he hadn't lost her somewhere between the mall entrance and some place serving Chinese food to hungry shoppers. All of the food smelled really good and he was hoping they'd be able to swing by the food court before leaving. Sam thought it'd be nice to grab something to eat somewhere where he'd have more of a choice than just different variations on a hamburger. Emerson was smiling though, looking around at all of the decorations up in the mall and softly humming to the Christmas music that was playing.

She lightly grabbed onto Sam's arm and started to gently pull him towards the nearest department store. He wasn't sure what he'd get for his brother but he did think that a department store would be a good place to browse around anyway. There would probably be something that would be a suitable gift for Dean in a department store after all. Sam glanced in the window of a bookstore as they passed it, making a mental note of some of the books that were on display. While he wouldn't be grabbing anything for Emerson on this trip, he was looking around for any ideas on what he could get her and he was curious to wander around the bookstore anyway. Sam figured he could mention that after he and Emerson finished shopping for Dean's Christmas gifts though.

Emerson could see when she glanced at Sam that he was enjoying this far more than Dean had. She had kind of expected it though. Dean had fought with her about going to the mall in the first place but this was a little bit of normal and she knew that Sam liked little moments of normal wherever he could find them so she was happy to give him a moment like that while still getting something done at the same time. She was softly holding onto his upper arm, guiding him through the crowd a bit to make it into the department store. Emerson didn't grab for Sam's hand and she didn't hook her arm with his but she still held on so they didn't lose each other.

They were able to weave their way through the crowds with some ease and headed over to the men's department, where Emerson finally let go of Sam's arm. She smiled at him, cocking her head to the side a little as she looked up at him. Sam smiled at that look on her face. It was cute but he was sure he had a 'what?' kind of look on his own face.

"You know what you want to get your brother?"

Sam shook his head and looked around quickly. It was just a quick glance to almost get the layout of the area. He almost chuckled at how there were skills that he had as a hunter that would probably serve him well right now on this shopping trip. It also helped that he was so tall and could pretty much look over the heads of every shopper already in the store. "Not a clue. You?"

Emerson laughed and shook her head. "Nope. So do you have your cell phone?"

Sam cocked his head to the side a little now, giving her a slightly confused look. "Yeah. Why?" he asked.

"Just in case we get separated while we're shopping," she said with a shrug. "That way once each of us finds what we want to buy or once we've each made our purchases, we can call the other person and let them know where we are." She wasn't sure if Sam was going to wander off on his own to look around or if he was just going to follow her around and see if he stumbled on anything interesting for Dean. But Emerson just wanted to be safe either way. She just wanted to know that if they did get separated, they could call one another to meet up again.

Sam softly 'hmmm'ed and nodded. He hadn't thought about that but now that she'd mentioned it, he thought it was a good idea. He figured he could follow her around for a bit though and see if he found anything for his brother. And if not, well, Sam figured he could wander off then and see what else he could find that Dean might like. It was going to be hard to find a good gift for Dean but he thought he could do it. _And at least it won't be a convenience store gift_, he thought with a little smile.

"So which way are you headed?"

Sam shrugged in response, not sure where to start. "You?"

Emerson laughed and shrugged too. "I'll probably just grab him some clothes and call it a day," she said with a little smile. She wasn't sure what else to get Dean so, like she had done with Sam, she figured she'd go with practical gifts.

"Sounds like a better plan than I have," Sam said with a chuckle. He reached for her hand and wiggled his fingers between hers, lacing their fingers and smiling when he saw that soft blush on Emerson's cheeks. "Mind if I follow you around?"

Emerson shook her head, softly laughing. "Not at all. Let's see what we can find for Dean," she said, starting to walk a bit now. She was looking at Sam for a bit before her attention shifted to the men's department, trying to find something decent that Dean wouldn't mind opening up for Christmas.

Sam was staring at Emerson, smiling when she finally noticed. She softly laughed at him and gave him a playful bump with her hip. He chuckled softly at that and shook his head. She just shrugged and folded back up the shirt she'd been looking at.

It was difficult to shop for Dean. Neither Sam nor Emerson seemed sure what to get him. They'd already been through one department store and were currently wandering through another although this one was decidedly less crowded than the last one. Sam had noticed that right away and Emerson pointed out it was because the sales weren't as good but she did think they had better variety so for her it balanced out. Sam wasn't sure about that but he followed her into the store anyway and looked around.

She had one t-shirt tossed over her shoulder and was browsing the jeans, trying to estimate what size Dean wore. Sam smiled a little at the sight, just kind of standing back and watching Emerson shop. It was cute, seeing her sort through the different items in the store, looking for something for his older brother. When she caught him again, she just shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Did you find something for Dean yet?"

Sam chuckled and shook his head. "Not yet."

"Then get to looking instead of looking at me," Emerson said, a little smile on her face. There was a playful, teasing quality to her voice and she had an eyebrow raised as she looked at Sam, biting back a laugh.

Sam chuckled softly, nodding. He looked away then, browsing the area to see if anything jumped out at him but when he figured Emerson wasn't looking, he looked at her again. She had another shirt tossed over her shoulder. It looked like a short-sleeved button down, something Dean might wear. Sam smiled at that, pretending to be checking out the long sleeved button down shirts on the rack nearest him while still looking over at Emerson as she shopped.

Emerson was humming a bit to the Christmas music playing. She wasn't quite singing along with the Christmas carols but she knew most of them and still hummed along anyway. She looked over at Sam, seeing him trying to be sly while watching her and she laughed. Emerson crooked her finger at him, giving him a 'come here, you' kind of a look with a soft smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

Sam seemed to immediately respond to the way she crooked her finger and beckoned him over. He had that little puppy dog look going on, that 'please forgive me' face that he hoped would work right now. "What did I do now?" Sam asked, a little bit of a pout on his lips.

Emerson softly laughed and shook her head. "Let's go wander over to the sporting goods area here or maybe the automotive department," she said with a smile. She hooked a finger in one of belt loops on Sam's jeans and gave a little tug. "Maybe we'll both find something there for Dean."

Sam smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good. Are you planning on getting him much more?"

Emerson looked at the two things she had tossed over her shoulder and then nodded. "One more thing," she said with a shrug. "And then I'll see if I can help you find something for your brother."

Sam placed a hand softly on the small of Emerson's back as they started to walk. His arm wasn't quite around her waist but it was close and she was still walking close to him anyway. They seemed to still be in that 'feeling things out' stage of their relationship so Sam made sure to never do anything she might not like. So right now he was just being cautious but the way she walked close to him and smiled as she looked up at him gave him a bit of a confidence boost.

"Think we can grab something to eat when we're done shopping?"

Emerson smiled at Sam and nodded. "We can either eat here or find some place close by to grab a bite, sure," she said, now softly wrapping an arm around Sam's waist. She smiled a little brighter when she felt his hand slowly move from the small of her back to around her waist as well. "Is there anything else you wanted to check out while we're at the mall?"

"Yeah, maybe we can stop in the bookstore when we're done," Sam said, nodding. "Before we grab something to eat."

"Sounds good."

Sam was grinning now, happily walking along with Emerson through the store. They took the escalator down one floor to find the sporting goods department. If anything, Sam figured he could get Dean a hunting knife or something along those lines from there. Or maybe he'd find something for the Impala in the automotive department. But even as his mind was turning on the possibilities for gifts for Dean, Sam was still very aware of how close Emerson was and how good this moment felt. It made him long for more moments of normal with her. He kissed her head before they stepped off the escalator, earning himself a little giggle in response.

"What was that for?"

Sam gave Emerson's waist a little squeeze as they started to walk again. "Just because."

Emerson nodded a little, grinning as she looked up at Sam. "I like 'just because' then," she said, a bit of laughter in her voice.

Sam kissed her head again then and steered them towards the sporting goods department when he spotted it. To him, this definitely felt perfect and he was looking forward to the rest of the shopping trip now. Maybe Dean didn't have as much fun Christmas shopping with Emerson but Sam was taking advantage of every moment of this. It was all just too perfect not to.


End file.
